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Thursday, January 24, 2013

4 Ways to Improve Intel HD Graphics Performance

Not a long time ago integrated graphics card was a synonym of low performance, non-game capable video card. Fortunately, huge advancements has been made and today an integrated graphics card can satisfy all of our multimedia and gaming needs (except those of the hardcore gamers, of course). So if you are not a hardcore gamer or a professional video editor, chances are that you have a desktop computer or a laptop with an integrated video card. In this article I'm going to show you how to get the max out of the integrated graphics card in Intel processors - Intel HD Graphics. The performance improvement tips in this article will also work for other integrated graphics cards, for example the AMD integrated graphics.

Update the graphics card driver

The driver is the piece of software all the programs and games use to communicate with your graphics card. Being with the latest driver means that your graphics card will work faster and you will experience less problems and freezes in graphic intensive applications and games. New driver versions also introduce improvements and optimizations for many games.

If you are on a laptop, it is best to visit the website of you laptop's manufacturer and find the web page related to your laptop. Usually there's a search box where you can enter you laptop's exact model number. When you find your notebook's support page, download the Intel HD Graphics driver for your operating system and install it.

If you are on a desktop, simply go to Intel's website and search for the exact model of your CPU's graphics card, for example Intel HD Graphics for Celeron, Intel HD Graphics 3000, Intel HD Graphics 4000, etc. Then download the driver for your operating system and install it.

Increase the amount of RAM and make it work in dual channel mode

Integrated graphics cards usually do not have their own memory (or only have a small amount of one). They take memory from the RAM of the computer. When your computer has more RAM the Intel HD Graphics will be able to utilize more memory. But what will really speed it up will be using two memory sticks of the same capacity and speed. In this case you computer's RAM will begin to work in dual channel mode which means that it will become at least 15% faster. As the integrated graphics use computer's RAM extensively you can expect an even greater performance improvement for your Intel HD Graphics - it will become 20 - 25% faster in most applications and games.

Make sure the graphics card is not in power saving mode

If you are after maximum performance of you Intel HD Graphics, make sure you have turned off all of its power saving features. This tip is valid for all video cards, power saving features kill performance and vice versa. That is why in order to achieve maximum performance you have to make sure that your Windows power plan is not on Power Saver, you can use the Balanced or the High Performance power plan. You can also click the Intel HD Graphics driver tray icon (it should be near the clock in the task bar), select Graphics Properties, then click the Power tab and select Maximum Performance. The image on the right shows how this dialog looks for Intel HD Graphics 3000 on Windows 7. Please, note that although this tip will certainly improve your Intel HD Graphics' performance it will also increase the power it draws, as well as the heat it generates under heavy load (which is the case for games). Caution is advised, especially if you are on a laptop that experiences temperature problems.

Set the 3D preference of Intel HD Graphics to "Performance"

This trick will help you improve the frame rate in games. To apply it click the Intel HD Graphics driver tray icon, select Graphics Properties, then click the 3D tab and move the slider to Performance. In this way you sacrifice a bit of image quality for improved 3D perfromance, which should lead to a few more frames per second (FPS) in games. The image on the right shows the way this dialog looks for Intel HD Graphics 3000 on Windows 7. Do not expect miracles though, this will not turn your Intel HD Graphics into a high performance gaming video card, but you will get a slight bump in frame rates depending on the game.

These 4 tips will greatly improve your Intel HD Graphics performance thus letting you enjoy smooth gameplay even in games you thought you wouldn't be able to play with an integrated graphics card. Most of them can be applied to other integrated graphics cards, too. Other ways to improve the performance of Intel HD Graphics also exist, but I found these ones most effective. Let me know if they work well for you, too, or if you have any other Intel HD Graphics performance improvement methods.

73 comments:

Hi, first i want to thank you about this article it was helpful, second i wante to know if i can increase my dedicated video memoru: intel hd graphics 4000 (32 mb dedicated), windows 8, dell inspiron 15r 5520.

Hi, I'm glad I've helped. Regarding your question, I doubt you will be able to increase your video memory. As I have explained in point 2 of the article, integrated graphics usually do not have memory of their own, they use shared memory that is taken from the RAM memory installed on your computer. It is dynamically allocated in most cases, but you can take a look at your laptop's BIOS. Some manufacturers put a setting there that lets the users specify the amount of memory the integrated graphics can take from the system RAM.

Hi Shadow xD, yes, it may be so. If you do not have the power saving option, then you can simply type "power options" in the Start menu search box and launch the Power Options dialog. Make sure you are on "Balanced" or "High performance" power plan (not on "Power saver") and you should be ok.

hi i got some questions 1.i have a hp pavillion g7 with 6 ram and i3 core with intel 4000 integrated , my max of ram is 8g (hp said that) but i would like to know if the difference of 2 ram (from 6 to 8) can make a big change of performance when im playing games. 2. how much of my 6g of ram is my intel 4000 using ?

1. Dual channel mode works best when you have 2 sticks of RAM with the same speed and size, so upgrading to 8 GB RAM (2 x 4 GB) most probably will increase the performance a little bit. As the integrated graphics use RAM, your Intel HD Graphics will benefit, too, but don't expect a great improvement, I doubt you will get more than 5-10% performance increase. Fortunately, RAM is pretty cheap these days, so it's easy to max it out ;)

2. To check out the amount of memory your Intel HD Graphics 4000 is using right click on your desktop, select Screen resolution, click Advanced settings and select the Adapter tab if it's not selected already.

thanks for answering my question now... i did what you told me and is telling me that my dedicated memory is 32 mb but my total memory available is 1664 mb and 1632 mb of shared system memory so my next question is. does my graphics card use 1664 mb at some point or when need it?. 2. if i get more ram the card would use more for the dedicated memory? and last if you do the math 3269 mb is the total of ram that my card uses? that means i only have less that 3 G of ram available for my games? thanks

Hi Harsh, Intel HD Graphics does not have dedicated memory. The 64 MB shown by Windows as dedicated is not actually dedicated but is the minimum amount of shared memory your Intel HD Graphics is using. You can take a look at your computer's BIOS to see if you can change it (such setting is not commonly available on laptops).

There's also a maximum amount shown (which is approximately 1.7 GB for Intel HD Graphics 3000 for example). The Intel HD Graphics driver dynamically sets the amount of memory the integrated graphics uses depending on the currently running applications. For example when you run a game, the amount of shared memory used increases, when you close it it decreases so that you have more free RAM.

Hi , I have problem whit my laptop graphic , i have i5, 6gb ram and intel hd graphic , they have a 1669 mb , but vram - video ram is 64 mb and i cant open a game like pro evolution socer , they want a 129 mb of vram , i go check on google and i see that can be change in bios - or probly not ? i go on my bios but nothing for graphic and ram .... I have Lenovo G580 , ty and sry for my bad english...

Hi, if there isn't a setting in the BIOS, there isn't much you can do. Your best chance is to search for an update, a patch or a fix for the game that makes it work with Intel HD Graphics. Intel HD Graphics is currently the most common laptop GPU, so most of the game vendors make their games compatible with it sooner or later. Good luck ;)

hi,i a have a question , i am using sony vaio model:SVE14133CN , which has 4gb of ram , Intel HD 4000 graphics .1) my first query is that , will I be able to put a external graphics card to increase the gaming performance ?

2) if i use a 8gb pendive to boost the performance of the ram , does this means that the graphis would show a hike in the performance ?

1. If your laptop has an Express Card slot you can try a solution like ViDock, but according to me it's way too expensive and not worth it. If you want to game on a budget it will be best to get a second hand desktop computer and install a new middle class video card in it. It will cost the same as the ViDock solution (about $300-$400) but you will get much better gaming performance.

2. No. The Intel HD Graphics benefits only from speeding up the RAM, which happens when the RAM works in dual channel mode (2 x 4 GB). Besides, using ReadyBoost when you have 8 GB RAM is not necessary, as ReadyBoost only improves the performance of computers with small amount of RAM (e.g. 1 GB).

Hello, I´m from Brazil. Today I received a Gateway NE56 laptop with Intel Core i5 3230m and 4Gb ddr2 1333. Curiosly the Windows 8 Experience Index is 4,5 because the desktop graphics (6,1 for 3D. Is this a normal EI for that kind of hardware? Thanks in advance for your answer. Tito.

I read what you post and am happy to see this...Am from Nigeria and am having problem with my video card memory is 32MB,and am using Hp 650 Intel corei3 4Gram 750hard disk....I want to run pes13 on it and is showing me my video card is nor up to 128mb can I increase it to that range and my bios settings does not show me where I can increase my video card...please help

Hi, if there isn't a setting in your BIOS, there's not much you can do. I suggest you search (try Google for example) for a patch or a solution that makes the game work with Intel HD Graphics. Good luck!

And does Intel HD Graphics 4000 work as well as Nvidia 8800 GT in terms of gaming performance? Because FIFA13 requires Nvidia 8800 GT graphic card so we could play it smoothly. Do you think I could play it in medium setting using Intel HD Graphics 4000?Cheers.

As far as I know the performance of Intel HD Graphics 4000 is at the level of the GeForce 8600 GT, so the 8800 GT should be noticeably faster than Intel HD 4000. Whether you will be able to play FIFA 13 at medium details with Intel HD 4000 depends on the resolution you want to play at. For example you should be able to play FIFA 13 on medium settings at 1366x768, but if you want to play at Full HD (1920x1080) you may have to switch to low settings. Give it a try and let us know :) Good luck ;)

Hi Marc, if you are running the Intel HD Graphics control panel in Basic Mode, try switching to Advanced Mode and see if the setting appears there. If not, check out Windows power options, you may also have a setting there. If nothing helps, ask your computer's manufacturer for assistance.

Thank you very much Pavel Vladov.my graphic memory is 784mb in intel hd 3000,i3,2gb ram. Upgrading 4gb of ram increase graphic memory? And which one is better?upgrading 2gb+2gb or 2gb+4gb?Thanks in advance

If you increase the amount of RAM in your laptop, Intel HD Graphics will be able to utilize more memory, as far as your computer is not configured to use a fixed amount of memory for graphic needs. For example, on my laptop with 8GB RAM (2x4GB), Intel HD Graphics 3000 can use up to 1.7GB memory from system's RAM.

Regarding the dual channel mode - it's best to use 2 sticks of RAM of same size and speed (2x2GB or even better 2x4GB), but dual channel mode may also work with 2GB+4GB, however IMO the same size, same speed option is better. You can use a software like CPUZ to check out if your memory is working in dual channel mode, simply run the program and click the memory tab. Good luck!

Thanks for the great tips Pavel. I tried your tips and the one tip that made all the difference was adding an extra memory stick to force dual channel mode.

My ID83 was only scoring 4.6 for desktop (Aero) graphics when I was using 1 stick of DDR3 1333Mhz RAM. When I realized that the machine can use DDR3 1600Mhz RAM I returned it and got 2 sticks of that RAM. With only 1 stick of the faster RAM installed my score went up to 5.1 from 4.6 (the memory performance score also went up about the same amount). With 2 sticks installed the desktop graphics score further increased from 5.1 to 6.5! Even the gaming graphics score increased from 6.2 to 6.5. The memory performance score also went from 5.9 to 7.4.

None of your other tips seemed to help the Windows Experience Index score, but I'm sure that in real world applications the user would notice a difference in responsiveness. My BIOS supports pre-allocating up to 1Gb of graphics memory, but it made no difference on the score. Interestingly enough, Intel's latest graphics driver (not yet released by Zotac) LOWERED the desktop graphics score by 0.1. I left it installed though as it probably contains bug fixes.

I hope that others find this post useful as now my little box scores higher than my old quad-core Q6600 desktop on almost all counts. Thanks again for your great tips!

Thanks for sharing that useful information Geoff! I'm glad I have helped. Regarding the WEI, don't worry about it too much, it is not the most accurate measure of graphics performance, so fluctuations of +/- 0.1 should not be considered meaningful.

You are right about the other tips - they do not affect the WEI score as much as making the memory work in dual channel mode, but they improve the performance of Intel HD Graphics in real world situations, too. For example, your scores in graphics testing programs like 3D Mark should become better and the FPS in most of the games should also increase.

Hi, and thank you for the nice guide.I have one question.How much will benefit the IGP when running in dual channel, apart from running in Flex Mode?I have 1x2gb +1x4gb sticks of ram, still my system shows that I run in dual channel mode(which it seems like flex mode to me)Will I see any improvement going for 2x4gb in true dual channel, or my current setup is okay?

Hi, in your configuration you have 4GB of memory (2x2GB) running in dual channel mode and the remaining 2GB of the 4GB memory stick is running in single channel mode. Depending on the way you use your computer you may or may not see any real world performance difference from going to 2x4GB. Anyways, I suggest you sell your 2GB module and get a 4GB module with the same speed (and brand if possible) as your other 4GB module. RAM is pretty cheap these days so it won't cost you much to maximize your memory potential and have 2x4GB memory in dual channel instead of 2x2GB. Good luck!

Hello Mr.Pavel Vladov i have the Intel HD Graphics 4000 and i was wondering if increasing my RAM from 4GB to 8Gb would help improve my laptop's (HP Pavilion g6 with i5 3210m dual core processor) performance for games like NFS Run or Hitman Absolution? One slot is already there the other one awaits.....

Hi, please check out the second advice in the article. Having 2 memory sticks of the same speed and size makes your memory work in dual channel mode, which improves it performance. As Intel HD Graphics takes memory from system RAM it benefits, too, so its performance will increase, too. Do not expect miracles, though, you won't get more 20-30% graphics performance boost, but taking into account how cheap RAM is nowadays, it's well worth it according to me.

Hi..can i download and install updated intel HD graphic 3000 from intel website..rather than lenovo manufacturer website. because the driver which is on Lenovo website is very old and not an updated one..doing so is there any harm to my laptop?

Hi, for laptops Intel recommends you use the driver provided by your laptop's manufacturer rather than the generic one. And as I've said in the first advice of this article, so do I. Laptop manufacturers often alter the original Intel's driver to make it work better for your specific laptop model, so if you want to try the generic driver from Intel's website, it's best to contact Lenovo support first and ask them if this is ok.

Privet,Ciao,I have a laptop Acer gateway NE56R,Intel pentium Doul-core processor 2.50Ghz,with a RAM of 4gb and 128 mb of graphic card and i have Intel HD Graphics,and in my system properties it show 1728mb of graphics memory,and i put all of these settings but some games are not working like GTA IV and Assasin's creed....e.t.c. Any help per fevore.......

Unfortunately, some games are misguided by the dedicated memory reported by Windows for Intel HD Graphics (it's not dedicated actually) and refuse to start. In this case your only option is to search over the Internet for a patch or a fix for the particular game that solves this issue. There are millions of Intel HD Graphics users, so chances for finding a solution are pretty nice. Good luck!

You already have 2 sticks of memory (2 x 2GB), which means that your RAM is already working in dual channel mode, so do not expect a great performance improvement from going to 2 x 4GB. Anyways, RAM is pretty cheap these days, so if you want, go for it, some applications and games may benefit from the larger amount of system memory. You can sell your old memory sticks to cover some of the upgrade cost. If you are currently using a 32-bit operating system (e.g. Windows 7 32-bit), do not forget to install a 64-bit one after the upgrade so that your computer can utilize the 8GB RAM.

hi pavel...! i am planing to purchase a new intel pentium g2010 processor which has intel hd graphics inbuilt. in the intel's site it just shows "intel hd graphics" (it does'nt have 2000,3000,4000 title)

so now i wanted to know is that, what would be minimum and maximum shared memory of for this intel hd graphics card. please suggest me any one.

chek it on intel site and also tell me is this intel hd graphic is of much lower quality than other intel hd graphics 2000, 3000, 4000.

Hi, that's right, Ivy Bridge Pentiums' (like the mentioned Pentium G2010) integrated video is called simply Intel HD Graphics. It is based on the Intel HD Graphics 2500, which is part of most of the Ivy Bridge Core i3 and some of the i5 processors, but is a bit weaker (it has 100 MHz lower clock rate) and has some features like the video decoding disabled.

Performance wise Ivy Bridge Pentiums' integrated graphics should be between the Intel HD Graphics 2000 and the Intel HD Graphics 3000 of the Sandy Bridge generation. The memory it can utilize should be the same (up to 1.7 GB).

Hi PavelI've got a samsung series 5 all n one computer I want to play gta iv but i can't due to my intel hd graphics memory usage i've tried to make it use more memory it doesn't seem to work. Bios doesn't help either. I was wondering can I change the intel hd graphics card if not a way make the graphics card be able to use more memory.

Hi, unfortunately all in one computers are more like laptops than like desktops and you cannot upgrade or change their video card. Check out my Intel HD Graphics FAQ article for more information.

Regarding GTA IV, as far as I know there's a way to make it work on Intel HD Graphics by putting a special configuration file in the game's folder or something like this. Search for it on the Internet and you will find the exact solution Good luck!

Hi Pavel,thank you for your useful guidance. I have tried all three steps, but unfortunately couldnt improve Intel HD 3000 performace. I have Dell Vostro, i5, 4gb and it allows me for 1600x900 resolution. Is there any other way how to do it? Thank you.Jaroslav

Hi Jaroslav. There are some other tricks, too, but these 3 methods are the most effective ones. If you apply them all you can expect about 20% to 30% performance improvement to your Intel HD Graphics, which translates to a few frames per second more in games (depending on the game), so do not expect your laptop to turn into a gaming beast, but you at least may be able to enjoy smooth gameplay in some games that weren't playable before. I also suggest you lower the resolution of the games to 1366x768 or even 1280x720 and the frame rates will improve a lot, 1600x900 is simply too much for Intel HD Graphics 3000 to handle games in (only old games may be playable at this resolution).

Hi Pavel,Thnx for you article,it was so helpful for me.i have a toshiba c850 with i3 2310m with an integrated intel HD 3000 and 2GB of memory.it shows that it has around 710 mb shared memory and 64 mb as dedicated memory.Me i wanted to increase the value of dedicated memory (well i read your reply that says it is not dedicated but its minimum usage of it and...)but there some games that checks for the size and you can't play them and even me, Psychologically,i don't find it nice ...i checked the BIOS for that thing but nthng poiting to it ...so 1-is there any solutions or reassure about it ?2-what if i added another 2GB ram so it works in dual channel mode ..will this increase the shared memory and the VRAM ??

Hi, if you can afford it, upgrade your RAM to 2x4GB, your will definitely get some performance improvement, because when you have 6GB RAM, only 4 of them (2x2GB) can work in dual channel mode. Regarding the games that require a given amount of dedicated video memory to run, check out my other article: Intel HD Graphics - FAQ, where I give some advices what can be done in this case. Good luck ;)

Hi pavel, ive been read your article and its answering my question.. Anyway i've Intel core i3 2.1 Ghz and Intel HD Graphic Family 3000 and my ram is 4gb. When i take a look at advance setting on resolution option on desktop, it says that i've dedicated video memory 128mb and shared system memory 16223mb so total avaible memory is 1760mb. I want to ask if i expand my ram into 6gb can it help me runs HD game smoothly? With that spec i can run several HD game on my laptop like GTA IV,Sleeping Dogs,Mafia 2. but with medium sett.. And is that true that lag can be happend if the CPU's is getting warm, i can feel that when i playing game for about an hour, and my laptop is getting warm i found my game is sometimes lag. but when i play it on cold environment its rarely lag.. am sory if my english is bad.. am from indonesia.. thanks

Hi Tedy, if you currently have 2 x 2GB RAM, then going to 6GB (2 + 4GB) won't help you much, as your memory is already working in dual channel mode. If you only have 1 stick of 4GB RAM though, upgrading to 6GB will help a bit, because your memory will begin working in dual channel mode. Anyway, if you want to maximize your memory and your Intel HD Graphics performance it is best to step up to 2 x 4GB (total of 8GB) RAM, as in this case you will have plenty of RAM working in dual channel mode, so you can expect at least 15% performance improvement of both your computer's memory and integrated video card.

Okay thx dude.. I've borrow my friends RAM and now mines is 2gb+4gb.. and you right there's no improvement on any HD game, and when i take a look at display information my video memory still stuck at 1760mb. So if i take 2 Gb and replace it with another 4 gb ram maybe i can get some little improvement like you said, is that you meaning to say? :D

Your max video memory won't increase, but your memory will become a bit faster and because Intel HD Graphics uses system memory extensively, it will become a bit faster, too. Do not expect miracles, though. You will gain no more than 15-20% performance improvement, which means that you can expect only a few frames per seconds more in games (depending on the game), so it is up to you to decide whether it is worth buying another 4GB RAM stick or no.

Hi Patel. As I've said in point 2 of the article, upgrading your memory to 2 sticks of same size and speed will make it work in dual channel mode thus increasing its performance by at least 15% in most situations. Because Intel HD Graphics takes memory from system RAM for graphical needs it will also benefit from the faster RAM and you will get at least 20-25% performance improvement in most applications and games.

Hi, Intel Core i3 3120m is the faster processor, but AMD A8-4500m has a bit better integrated graphics, so it's up to you to decide which one is better for you. If you can find a variant with a Haswell i3 CPU and Intel HD 4400 for similar price, get it instead, because it's integrated graphics is faster than both Intel HD 4000 and Radeon HD 7640m and it's power consumption is better optimized, so the laptop will also have longer battery life.

Hi I bought a lenovo g500 core i5 3230 with Intel HD 4000 graphics (holiday special) 1. I was wondering if I could get an external graphics card even though I don't have a pcie port?2. Since my laptop came with 6gb of ram would it be running in flex mode or (another mode I know about)?

1. No, if your laptop does not have either an Express Card slot, or a Thunderbolt port, you cannot attach an external video card. Some laptops may have a mpcie slot for a WiFi card which may also be used, but it's much harder solution. Anyway, I don't recommend an external video card solution, because it's way to expensive. For similar price you can either sell your laptop and get a better one or build a budget desktop with a nice video card, which is the best solution for gaming.

2. If you have 6GB RAM, it should be running in flex mode - 2x2GB in dual channel mode and the rest 2GB in single channel mode.

Is it recommended to download the driver from the laptop manufacturer or just download it from intel website? Because when I update my driver from intel it becomes laggy and lot of microstutter. I can play gta 4 with my old driver and having stable 25-35 framerate now with the new updated driver I earn fps but it dips to 16 fps all the time. Please reply thanks.

Hi, as I've explained in step 1, if you are on a laptop, it is best to download the graphics driver provided by your laptop's manufacturer. Do not use the generic driver from Intel's website on a laptop, because it may become unstable! You laptop's manufacturer graphics driver may be older than the generic Intel driver, but at least it is tested exactly for your specific configuration and will function properly.

Hello I followed your steps and increased my performance of my graphic card but it wasnt just a 10% increase i had observed a 30% increase I have a laptop which had Intel Core i3-3110M,Intel HD 4000,2 gb ram which i have changed into a 6 gb (so a total of 8).So Thank You but still i cant play games like call of duty black ops 2 which is supposed to give 20fps in low graphics but ain't my friend has a similar configuration but his is even slower than mine please give us a solution

Hi, following the advices in this article will improve your Intel HD Graphics by up to 30% (depends on what you have already done), but it still won't be a gaming video card. You will be able to play many more games with it, but heavy ones like Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Crysis 3, Metro: Last Light and so on will still be out of Intel HD Graphics league. Such games require a strong dedicated video card for smooth gameplay.

Hi, I have Intel HD Graphics with total available video memory 1760mb and dedicated 128mb, RAM - 4gb DDR3, cpu - Intel Pentium B980 2.4ghz, 500 HDD, and i can play games such as Call of Duty Modern warfare 1,2,3, Black ops,Black ops2,Crysis but on medium settings with a little lagg.Can I increase video memory or performance for better playing,please? Thank you! :D

Hi, you are on a laptop, so most probably you won't be able to increase the memory allocated to Intel HD Graphics, but even if you could that would not help performance. If you want to increase your video performance, follow the advices in this article. The most beneficial for you will be to upgrade you laptop's memory to 2x4GB to get dual channel mode for your laptop's memory, which will also boost your Intel HD Graphics performance by up to 20-25%.

Don't worry about the amount of video memory and the Windows Experience Index (WEI), as they are both not an accurate measure of performance. Being always with the latest graphics driver is recommended, because this leads to better performance and less problems in games. Usually each new driver version includes bug fixes and optimizations for different games.

Thank you for your intereseting viewpoints. Another qquestion: is it possible to increase the resolution on this chip? I can´t get higher than 1280x1024 pixels (the PC is a new one). Dirver is up to date. Or do I have to buy an extra graphics card?Thank you so much for your comments, best regards, Bart

Hi Bart. The maximum resolution available in the Windows "Screen resolution" dialog depends not only on your graphics card, but also on your monitor. If you are using an LCD display that supports up to 1280x1024 resolution you won't be able to go any higher. Get a better monitor, which supports Full HD resolution and you will be able to move to 1920x1080.

I own a Lenovo All in One B320. It runs on Intel HD. When I try to play Skyrim at Medium Settings, the FPS ranges from 10-16. Just brief me on the magnitude of improvement if I get additional RAM. I have got 1x4GB as of now. Just want to make sure that getting an additional stick is worth the money. Thanks in advance.

Hi, as the article states upgrading to dual channel memory will boost your Intel HD Graphics performance with up to 20-25%. Roughly speaking, this means that if now you are getting 10-16 FPS on Medium settings, after the upgrade, you might expect 13-20 FPS, so the game still won't be playable. I recommend you do the upgrade to dual channel memory, but also lower the settings or the resolution (or both) in order to enjoy smooth gameplay. Take a look at my article Skyrim on Intel HD Graphics for some recommendations.

Hi, Pavel... Thanks for you article this is greatly useful for me.. Oh yeah... I want to ask you.. The other people said that to improve performance of Intel HD Graphics is adjust the '3D Preference' to quality not performance. But I could understand what u mean.. If we selected 'performance' and applied it, the game will have a good fps, and if we selected 'quality' the game will have a good image and lower fps based on the RAM and the game itself.. Then, Pavel, how do I have both good image and a higher fps?? Tell me anyway.!! Sorry bad English

Hi Fellix, it's up to you to find the best balance between quality and performance. I personally prefer more FPS than better image quality, so that the game does not lag and that is why I move the slider more towards performance. In games usually things move around fast, so IMO it's better to have enough FPS for smooth animations and gameplay than to enjoy a high quality slideshow.

Hey there, Pavel. Thank you for such a nice thread. I've recently bought a HP Envy laptop. It's an i7 4700 MQ 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD, 1TBGB HD with intel graphics 4600. Yeah, it doesn't have a dedicaded graphics card.Well, I wouldn't expect this computer to run newer games, so I signed up on steam and bought the witcher 1 (which is a really old game). The thing is, my computer won't run it! I keep getting the message that it doesn't reach the minimum requirements to run this game.I went online and tried those tools that check if your computer can run games, and for my frustration, it won't run most games! Is that really it? What do you guys think? Thanks in advance! Gui

Hi, Intel HD Graphics 4600 is not a powerful graphics card, but for an integrated graphics card it's performance is pretty decent. It should be able to run most games at least on low settings and resolution. The problem is that because it is an integrated graphics card it does not have real dedicated memory as a discrete graphics card, but uses part of system RAM.

Not a long time ago integrated graphics cards were too weak to handle games and that is why some old games check whether your video card has a certain amount of dedicated memory and refuse to run if it doesn't. Intel HD 4600 is powerful enough to run all those games, but unfortunately this check prevents them from running. As you are on a laptop the best solution would be to do a search or browse the forums of that game in order to find if there's a way to trick it that your video card has enough dedicated video memory (via a configuration file or something else).